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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28335018">This is the Brilliance of White Light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aries_antagonist/pseuds/aries_antagonist'>aries_antagonist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Blood and Violence, Coffee Shop AU at the End of the World, Dark, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Everyone's a badass, F/M, Homophobic Language, Hotheaded Naruto, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Apocalypse, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Some Humor, Wayyy More Plot Than Porn, morally gray characters, narusasunaru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,115</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28335018</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aries_antagonist/pseuds/aries_antagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years after the last of the suns light finally faded from view, the weary citizens of New Konoha adapt to the darkness in any way possible.</p><p>OR </p><p>Sasuke has a fainting problem, oh, and a <i> I-think-I-might-have-slept-through-the-end-of-the-world </i>problem. Naruto lays claim the other 98 problems.</p><p>WIP! Updating at least once a week! SasuNaru, AU, Alternating Sasuke's POV and Naruto's POV</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Naruto x others, Sasuke x others, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>UPDATE 12/27: After getting some really wonderful feedback from @freakontour, this chapter has been updated to read smoother. No plot has changed.</p><p> </p><p>Welcome to baby's first fan-fic! Having had so much free time in quarantine (yeahhhh unemployment! *wearily cries*), I finally gave into my Naruto obsession.</p><p><b> Warning: </b> Please note this story is rated M. There will be full-on written sex at some point DON'T LIKE DON'T READ. 17+. I will not tolerate homophobia, transphobia, racism or whorephobia in the comments!!</p><p>SasukexNaruto is the main/eventual pairing, but it doesn't happen right away.</p><p> Please feel free to comment anything you're thinking! I'm open to any critique that's based on the work/flow/comprehension (not any about my ships lol)</p><p>    Italics mean flashbacks in this story!!!</p><p>    I'll be posting previews and mood boards to my tumblr- www.tumblr.com/ariesantagonist</p><p>    NOTE: Kishimoto owns Naruto. I just obsess over it rather than sleeping.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1> Chapter 1, Sasuke's POV </h1><p><br/>
</p><p>Shattered glass clattered on the tile floor, a violent echo. He came to slowly, stale oxygen escaping from the tank all around him.<br/>
“What the fuck-” Sasuke snapped his mouth shut. His breath stopped inches from his face. Opening his eyes was no help, the room a navy-blue sheathed black. A final glass piece clinked to the floor and he could begin to make out the soft blare of an alarm in the distance.</p><p> </p><p>His hands frantically moved to fill in the blanks left by his vision. He was no stranger to waking up in a foreign bed, but this was certainly not that. Refusing to give into the icy-panic creeping up his spine, he ripped at the smooth plastic covering his mouth, “A ventilator?” he thought. Under that, he felt a set of firm rubber tubes leading into his nostrils and set upon unceremoniously yanking those away too. Sasuke felt the tubes slide up through his esophagus as he pulled and had to fight the rising nausea. </p><p>He stumbled forward out of the broken tank and hissed as the metal lightly tugging in his skin painfully stayed behind. The needles from various points on his body and patches lightly stuck to his skin also gave way with a velcro-like pop, his whole body falling away from the web of medical puppet strings holding him captive where he had slept.</p><p>“FUCK!”<br/>
His bare feet had done an excellent job of finding where the broken glass had landed. Sasuke’s aching thighs gave out under him and as he hit the chilled tile, he discovered he was completely naked.</p><p> </p><p>“Omoi?! Do you think this is funny, you little shit?” he called into the room, his only response that goddamn alarm still sounding somewhere far away. He tried to slow his breathing, but reaching to pull the shards of glass from his foot felt like a complete cardio workout. The muscles all down his shivering body felt like they hadn’t been used in years. <br/>

He decided this must be tied to his father’s political career and collected himself. He needed to stay calm if this was some sort of bullshit kidnapping attempt.  Even if he was still peeved at his father after their last conversation, he wasn’t about to be used as leverage to get at his family. He breathed out raggedly and tried to assess his surroundings.<br/>
 </p><p>The floor beneath him, aside from being littered in now-bloodstained glass, was cold, tiled and filmy, “Dust? Chemicals? It feels like dust.” His weakened, bare torso leaned heavily against a leg of a metal table that felt solid, likely cemented to the floor. It smelled faintly of bleach. “An operating room?” he mused, gathering another painful breath to steady his hand as he pulled the last of the larger glass splinters from his foot.</p><p>“...or the least appealing sex dungeon known to man,” he thought wryly. His long fingers grasped the edge of the table to his left and wrenched himself upright. He smelled wretched and not in a we-forgot-to-shower-after-hooking-up kinda way. He gave a small, humorless chuckle despite another wave of nausea wracking his body.<br/>
 <br/>
Sasuke felt along the edges of the table slowly, wincing when he discovered a new muscle that wasn’t interested in working for him without complaint. His labored breathing echoed off the walls of the otherwise abandoned room. He remained unsure of whether that was a slight comfort or an addition to the muffled unease.<br/>
 </p><p>He softly hit the wall with his shoulder and kept moving forward along it, his eyes beginning to adjust. Faintly, Sasuke could make out a door a few feet from him and all but fell towards it.  His right hand instantly found the metal handle. Using more effort than he would like to admit, Sasuke pulled the handle down and back, the door giving way with a loud groan.<br/>
At the noise he froze, sliding to the floor again on the other side of the opened door; waiting to see if it had brought attention to his awakened presence.</p><p>The short hairs on his neck stood as the chill from the walls seeped into his rigid spine. He stayed still, not wanting to give away his location if someone was coming to check.<br/>
He was wildly awake now, and memories from the day before ( “Was that truly yesterday?” he thought) spilled in.<br/>
<br/>
<i>
Sasuke leaned into the rotating doors, brow furrowed in consternation at his phone. He deftly stepped from the carousel and into the typical hot, humid afternoon without glancing up. The overuse of air-conditioning indoors here in his hometown, New Konoha, was to blame for this exact moment. His once-appropriate indoor attire had become instantly three layers too many with a single step from the doors of the ten-story building. It was the type of heat that could only be accompanied by the shrieking thrum of cicadas, overbearing if you weren’t accustomed.<br/>
Unfurling his brow momentarily, the young adult lifted his eyes just in time to gracefully side-step another distracted intern barreling his way. Sasuke shrugged the arm not holding his cellphone out of his crisp, matte black suit jacket. He pulled the jacket complete free of his perspiring torso and descended the granite steps.<br/>
 <br/>
Back on the street, the bustling late afternoon crowd weaved together business-folk and hourly-workers on their way home. A popular food cart pumped out wave after wave of grease-laced aroma into the thick summer air. A group of tourists ducked into the cool air of the museum across the street.<br/>
 <br/>
The granite court gave way to the older cobblestone of the one-way street as he stepped forward once more. Arm raised loosely to hail a taxi, Sasuke returned to his current dilemma. Book a quick, last-minute hotel room for the night and shower there first? Or head straight to Omoi’s studio (his latest fling in a string of friends-with-benefits...minus the friendly part) and risk the schmuck trying to talk him into staying the night?</i></p><p>
  <i></i>
</p><p>
  <i></i>
</p><p><i>The sharp featured, lean muscled 23 year old was avoiding his family, yet again. Itachi, his older brother and soon-to-be-heir to their father’s political legacy, had insisted upon a sudden family vacation the evening prior.<br/>
‘Please bring no more than a few changes of clothes and meet me at the north-west corner of the estate, by the orange grove tomorrow at 7 p.m. Our transport will take us from there. Itachi.”<br/>
Sasuke gritted his teeth at the memory. His mysterious crow of a brother was always trying to subtly bend their family to his will. And, while Itachi was born a cryptic-asshole, normally even he gave more than 24 hours notice.<br/>
Later that same night, a heated spat over the usual between Sasuke and his father (Sasuke’s less-than-gleaming performance at his internship and “flaunting his sexual escapades”) sealed the deal in his mind.<br/>
 <br/>
“Let them go enjoy each others’ perfect company,” he whispered to no one, the childish bitterness of the words staining his lips. Sasuke didn’t hate his family, he loved them dearly, but damn if he was going to subject himself to a week of prodding when he could instead get laid by his very attractive, only mildly grating, “friend” with a perfectly working shower on the other side of town.<br/>
Sasuke raised his phone-</i><br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
The whirring noise of a fan and the zaps of overhead fluorescents resurrecting shook him from his memories. The sudden flash of white light was too much, and his hand reflexively shot up to cover his eyes. The lights burned orange through his fingertips, and once he had adjusted, slowly moved them away.<br/>
 <br/>
Sasuke instantly wished for the ignorance of darkness. Bile rose in his throat.</p><p>Before him was a generic hospital room, much like he had imagined in the dark minutes ago. Stainless steel tables with various equipment and clipboards hurriedly strewn across them. Near to his left, a wood-handled mop leaned precariously against the seat of a rolling chair. But along the back wall, illuminated by the gross green-white from the overheads, was a row of glass enclosed pods. In them, winding thin tubes that must be similar to the ones Sasuke had torn from his own body. This time, however, the tubes were hanging loose and useless from corpses in varying states of decay.</p><p>It hit him that it was not his own scent he had earlier been repulsed by- but the smell of rotting corpses. Bent over himself, he wretched the nothing he had in his stomach onto the dusty teal tile. Unable to look back at the long-abandoned bodies, he let his gaze follow the clear bile as it oozed toward the drain in the center of the room.<br/>
 </p><p>Vaguely, as his world spun and vision blacked once again before smacking the floor in a heap, he remembered thinking, “Damn, I guess I should have gone on that fucking vacation.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Two chapters in as many days! I had a nightmare last night about this fic. I'm taking that as a good omen.</p><p>Thanks to everyone who left kudos on Chapter 1! It's really appreciated! </p><p>I also just wanted to say, that I have been skeptical myself before getting invested in a WIP story, but no fears here! I have the plot already outlined with a solid conclusion and will not be abandoning this story. I'm very excited to get into it, and am gonna take my time with the world building.</p><p>Enjoy!</p><p>Note: Kishimoto, feral closeted homo that he is, owns Naruto.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1> Chapter 2, Naruto's POV </h1><p><br/>
</p><p>Naruto laughed, a clear joyous ring, tilting his head back in deep thought. Buzzing blue light from the neon sign overhead bearing the coffee shop/bar-hybrid’s name, “The Doghouse” bounced off his already radiant golden head of hair.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m torn between the classic American rock compilation and...uh, wait what were the other options?” the lazy smile on his face disappearing momentarily as he struggled to refocus on their conversation. </p><p> </p><p>Sakura just stared back him from her crouched position on the floor, eyes half-lidded in annoyance. Under her right hand rested a pile of records pulled forward from the rest in the aging-wooden cabinet below the ice well. Her long baby-pink hair was plaited in practical, elegant braids pulled up into a ponytail at the back of her head. They were still long enough to smack the stainless steel counter behind her as she shook her head at her coworkers faulty attention span. </p><p> </p><p>Realizing she wasn’t in the mood to repeat herself, Naruto wracked his brain to remember what records they had that didn’t have huge scratches down the vinyl. How Kiba, their boss and long-time friend, had managed to hold onto both a working record player and vinyl at all through the chaos of the last five years, Naruto had no idea. He counted the blessing that they could listen to something from “before”, a small taste of comforting nostalgia, at work. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh,” his arm came up to reflexively rub the back of his broad, tan neck, “why don’t you pick-” Naruto was interrupted by a shuffle of plastic bags and a grunt. </p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, my employees are worthless- what can I get started for you?” Kiba shuffled to quickly adjust the bags of supplies lining his arms and moved Sakura out of the way of the register with a light push from the side of his foot. Apparently there had been a customer standing there. He quickly turned back to give Sakura and Naruto his best version of a huffy look before moving further along the bar. </p><p> </p><p>Pushing off the back counter with his elbows, Naruto grabbed a clean mug from the shelf to his left to start fixing the quiet mans drink. ‘Coffee with a shot’ was a really nice way of putting a name to the mess of a cocktail Naruto was asked to make. Coffee nowadays was about 20% coffee and 80% chicory, and the whiskey was certainly just as questionable. </p><p> </p><p>Free-pouring the shot, and adding a bit more than normal in silent apology for the mans wait, the blonde turned his head to see what Kiba had brought. From the record player, the intro guitar solo to Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ filled the previously quiet bar with steady thrums.</p><p> </p><p>“More soy milk?” he questioned at the bags, leaning over the counter to pass along the completed beverage and humming along to the music. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, everything went bad last night after the blackout. That musta been the biggest-” Kiba’s words became muffled as he stuck his head in the low-boy fridge to stock the furthest reach. </p><p> </p><p>“Huh?!” Naruto shouted across the bar before interrupting himself with a turn to his still-first customer of the day. “Oh, that’ll be 75 tokens, thanks,” he leaned the bars token interface closer to the man who extended his wrist and swiped his ID band. With a satisfying chime confirming the payment had processed, he replaced the interface below the bar. He noted the 20 token tip. “Let me know when you’re ready for another,” he said with a wink. </p><p> </p><p>“Fucking flirt,” barked a deep gruff voice in his right ear, causing the blonde to start. Sakura had apparently changed her ‘voice’ on the DragonSpeak device. She used the cutesy, medium-pitch default voice when she ‘spoke’ out loud- but had insisted Naruto and Kiba wear in-ear devices so she could still gossip with them when needed. Or apparently just tease them.</p><p> </p><p>“Well someone’s gotta bring in the tips,” he teased back, sticking out his tongue and pulling the front of his neon orange long-sleeve shirt up over his abs. </p><p> </p><p>“Can you keep your clothes on, please. You’re off in thirty minutes. Just keep them on for thirty. More. Minutes,” Kiba pleaded from his bent position over the end of the bar, eyes glued to his phone. “So, yeah apparently that was the biggest blackout the city's seen since the raids. No wonder we’ve been slow today,” the scowling brunette rationalized, trying to change the conversation. </p><p> </p><p>“I think business would pick up if you’d just let us work topless,” the blonde supplied eagerly. </p><p> </p><p>“Agreed we should-” Sakura began.</p><p> </p><p>“NOT YOU!” both men shouted back at her in unison, Naruto moved comically to stand in front of her in a low position, arms wide. She didn’t hesitate to sock him in the arm, causing him to stumble forward and reminding the muscled blonde just how little she needed his brotherly protection. It was just instinct at this point, being overprotective of his chosen family, and especially Sakura. </p><p> </p><p>A violent assault in her family home by a group of particularly nasty raiders after the Solar Collapse five years prior had left his best friend mute and hospitalized. Her mother and father had perished in the struggle and their home, destroyed. To this day Sakura refused to give details on what had happened, even though they had contracted a friend to engineer the text-to-speech device. Not that he needed the details, save for the opportunity to get revenge on the scum that had caused his friend so much pain. </p><p> </p><p>The silver lining of the attack was that Sakura had, after a long period of grief and isolation, channeled her rage and sadness into helping others. When she wasn’t helping out at The Doghouse, Sakura devoted every moment to hustling at the free clinic. So many desperate souls in need of a real hospitals’ care but knowing that the clinic was their only available resource. Medicine and sanitation supplies were difficult to come by these days. It just weighed on Naruto that there wasn’t more he could do, so he avoided the place. </p><p> </p><p>Naruto stopped rubbing at his clothed bicep where the bruise was already starting to form and chuckled, wrapping his arm around his pink-haired friend’s wide shoulders. </p><p> </p><p> She looked up at him before typing aloud, “Careful, don’t want Hinata to walk in and see this.” Naruto didn’t need to hear her tone to recognize the bitter flavor to her remark.</p><p> </p><p> Kiba glanced up from his phone, as if to ask something, as Naruto lowered his arm and guiltily chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s just a little possessive, I know she-”</p><p> </p><p>Sakura cut him off with a slight shake of her head, typing quicker, “She hates me and anyone who comes near you, and you know it.” Leaning down before he could defend his girlfriend, she grabbed her sling bag from under the bar and clipped it securely around her left side. She raised the volume on the DragonSpeak and typed a private goodbye to her distracted boss, causing Kiba to jump before waving his own quick goodbye. </p><p> </p><p> Gleaming from her curved hip was the hilt of the short HoloBlade in it’s sheath, which she adjusted to the belt loop closer to her front for easier access as she moved to leave. At the recognition of her thumbprint, the hilt glowed a mossy green, indicating it was fully-charged. A warm smile reappeared on her face when she turned back to Naruto. </p><p>“I’ll be at the clinic tonight, but I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Bounding around the counter like the rabid fox he was, Naruto pulled her in for a quick hug.<br/>
“No, it’s just you for the opening shift tomorrow, with it being so slow. I’m gonna take the day to see if my parts guy has a stash of oil filters so I don’t have to make my own for a while.” </p><p> </p><p>  Sakura nodded before turning to push the front door open, disappearing into the 2 p.m. darkness. He tried to watch her go, but the one streetlight in the vicinity didn’t provide for much. </p><p> </p><p> The guy at the bar raised his mug at Naruto signaling for another, looking much more relaxed after emptying his first round. Back behind the bar now, Naruto leaned one arm heavily on the carafe’s lever. The herbal brown liquid sloshed around the empty mug, filling it and the cafe with a slightly bitter aroma. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, by the way...” Kiba stood and moved closer to Naruto. He looked hesitant. Finishing the pour with the correct amount of whiskey this time and a quick stir, Naruto returned the mug to his customer. He pulled his shirt back down where it had ridden up over his stomach again. </p><p> </p><p>“What’s up?” he asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Um...’ Kiba quickly waved off the initial thought, “Nevermind. Anyways, I know paychecks were a little behind this week but I’ll have them deposited into your token bank either tonight or tomorrow. Things have just been a little tight, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>Naruto grabbed his shoulder and turned the man he had known since 17 to look at him in his apologetic brown eyes. “It’s fine, man, don’t worry about it,” he eased.</p><p> </p><p>Kiba seemed to relax at that and patted the hand on his shoulder before moving away to pour himself a drink.</p><p> </p><p>A new voice chimed in from across the room, “Careful Boss, it’s still early.” </p><p> </p><p>“Fuck you too, Sasori. No sunlight means it’s never early,” Kiba grabbed his stern red-headed employee’s hand in a quick shake. His other hand jerked the  chipped shot glass up and upended the amber liquid down his throat.</p><p> </p><p>Naruto nodded at his smaller coworker in gruff acknowledgment. The air between them rife with a constant edge the generally sociable blue-eyed blonde couldn’t identify. Nothing had ever happened between the two of them, but Naruto could never get his shifty-eyed coworker to open up. The man was probably a few years older than the other three, based on demeanor, but it was hard to tell with the five words Sasori had ever really spoken to him or Sakura. He didn’t mind too much since they never worked side-by-side, Sasori taking on the PM shifts as Naruto’s relief. He figured as long as the man was good to Kiba, he could deal.</p><p>With his helmet already tucked under his arm, he reached under the bar for his worn motor-jacket (“Jinchuuriki” emblazoned in faded red leather across the breadth of the back) before moving clumsily around the bar. </p><p> </p><p>A playful growl came from the edge of the booth’s where Akamaru, Kiba’s fluffy Akita and The Doghouse’s personal security guard, lay curled up against the metal. He bent down for a quick rub to the dog’s soft head. “Thanks again for the day off tomorrow, Keebz! Get some rest for yourself!” he called out, turning away. </p><p> </p><p>A non-committal “mhm” was all he heard in reply before stepping out into the alley.’</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ehh, yeah I'm sorry if you're a big Hinata fan! She's definitely one of the antagonists of this story...to say as little as possible without giving anything away... </p><p>Let me know what you think! I hope you're having a great day :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter really took it out of me haha. The plot gets moving along faster in the next few chapters, bear with the world-building for now :)</p><p>Note: I imagine this to be Sasuke's characterization if he did have the spoils of a family through his adulthood. Still broody, still hurting to have true connection but keeping everyone at a cars-length distance with wry wit and snippy one-liners. He has some character growth in this! It's not forever.</p><p>I hope everyone had an amazing New Year's! I'd love to hear about it if you have any cute traditions or resolutions you wanna share. Mine was just to reset my sleeping habits a little. </p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2> <div class="center"> Chapter 3, Sasuke's POV </div>
</h2><p>Sasuke’s first thought upon waking was, “Well, at least the bodies stayed dead.” </p><p> </p><p>Optimism wasn’t really his thing, but considering everything, he was open to trying something new. And hey, the lights were still on this time. </p><p> </p><p>His second and third were in hopes that somewhere in this building was a place he could shower. He pushed himself out of the faint pile of bodily fluids he had passed out in. Sasuke turned away from the abandoned bodies and stepped cautiously, quietly through an opening to a hallway. </p><p> </p><p>He had been in that tank a long time, that was for sure. If not for the adrenaline coursing through him, Sasuke knew his atrophied muscles wouldn’t be able to do much. Who had put him there was and how everyone else had died were mysteries yet to be solved. </p><p> </p><p>He hoped he’d have time for that later, right now he needed to move.</p><p> </p><p>Flickering green flourescents sizzled in the hallway, he noted the alarm had been ended...or silenced. </p><p> </p><p>His head was pounding. Long, determined steps took him down the hall, sweeping his eyes over the rooms he passed, looking for some promise of clothing or food. </p><p> </p><p>And there, at the end of the hall: past another decayed body in the doorway was what appeared to be a employee lounge. He held his breath as he stepped over,</p><p> </p><p>It appeared to be night through the window, and he breathed out in relief. Less likelihood to be discovered, if his captors were even still alive. A glance to his left provided a closet, and he scrambled to it. </p><p> </p><p>“Slim pickings,” he muttered, grabbing a knee length parka and pulling it around his still naked body. Zipping it closed, he reached back in for the only pair of shoes in the closet. </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe optimism has its’ perks,” he mused dryly when the shoes actually fit, “too bad they’re ugly.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, really? I think pastel green is your color. The velcro straps reall-” </p><p> </p><p>Cursing himself for getting distracted, Sasuke spun on his heel at the intruder. He was in no fighting shape, but hell if he hadn’t suffered through various styles of defensive martial arts with his sibling for nothing. </p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t move closer if I were you,” his assailant barked, “but those are some nice reflexes.”</p><p> </p><p>Sasuke glanced down at the electric green beam of light at his neck, originating in an odd device in his assailant’s hand. The sensation was akin to standing barefoot on concrete in summer, growing more intolerable as the seconds ticked on.</p><p> </p><p>“What the fuck is that,” he thought, mind racing. Sasuke took in his predicament while slowly raising his hands, palms forward. The slim, muscled man before him wore a utilitarian coverall, various weapons criss-crossing the torso on a belt- some Sasuke recognized and some foreign. Everything about him screamed military, from the outfit to his broadened stance. </p><p> </p><p>What was his father doing getting involved with the military? He couldn’t make the jump how a mere Senator might be caught up in something this big. Maybe this guy was hired muscle?</p><p> </p><p>Regardless, Sasuke was currently no match. And his people skills weren’t exactly remarkable. Fuck.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t think to wear some better clothes before trespassing with your little friends?,” the man gestured at his parka-no-pants situation with the barrel of his weapon, “What are you some kind of freak streaker?” </p><p> </p><p>“I haven’t the slightest fucking clue what you’re talking about. Who do you work fo-”</p><p> </p><p>The man tutted smugly, tensing a finger on what Sasuke could only assume was a trigger. He could feel the skin at his neck blistering now, and he bit his tongue to suppress the whine. </p><p> </p><p>A lurid smile crept onto the mans face, “I think I’m gonna be the one asking the questions here, freak. Why don’t you go ahead and take off tha-</p><p> </p><p>Sasuke never got to find out what charming command he had had in mind. Another laser, this time from the hallway, blazed clear through the man’s skull for a brief moment before his body collapsed with a thud. </p><p> </p><p>“Cute shoes,” his new problem remarked as he stepped over the slain officer on the floor. At least this one wasn’t fucking pointing the laser at him.</p><p> </p><p>“What in the ever-loving fuck is going on and why is everyone so focused on my outfit,” Sasuke was quickly losing his grip on the situation. </p><p> </p><p>“Well,” a flash of red over the man’s eyes came and went before Sasuke could process it, “I’m Hound, and I just saved your half-naked ass from that patrol.” He ticked a finger, and then another, “And we have about ten minutes before another fucking pig comes by this way to finish what he started.”</p><p> </p><p>Sasuke watched as the lithe man swept over the dead man’s weapons stash, pocketing a knife-like item and some rope. “Hound” looked to be in his early-thirties, give or take, and covered from the nose down in various form-fitting black items. The only accessory to the black was a swath of gray eyebrow and pale skin above, now, dark eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s kinda hot, for someone who had just bore through a man’s skull with a laser.” Sasuke remarked silently.</p><p> </p><p>Hound continued, “You clearly aren’t a Sentry and you’re way too skinny to be scavenger. Now that you’ve already seen me here, I can’t leave you behind to rat me out and frankly I could use a bag-boy, so let’s get moving. Does that answer your question?”  He turned the laser to Sasuke before motioning to the door, not waiting for an answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Streakers first.”</p><p> </p><p>Hound bent, once they were in the hallway, to toss one absurdly full duffel bag at Sasuke’s chest, nearly sending him sprawling. </p><p> </p><p>They moved quickly, and low along the corridor, with Hound close at Sasuke’s left. He didn’t dare turn over his shoulder to glance at the man, but something about the quick character judgment he had made put Sasuke a little more at ease. This guy had a plan out of here and was including him in it, at least for the time being. Until he could find an out that didn’t involve fighting the guy, he’d follow. </p><p> </p><p>They approached a metal door with a flickering “Exit” sign above, and Sasuke made to grab the handle before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. </p><p> </p><p>“Streaker, hold up.” Hound whispered, and he just...looked at the door.</p><p> </p><p>“You gonna do something?” </p><p> </p><p>“Already did, it’s clear,” Hound turned to him with an eyebrow slightly quirked, his covered smirk made abundantly clear, “Retinal thermo-sensors, pretty cool huh? Just got ‘em.” There it was again, the red flash over the man’s eyes. </p><p> </p><p>He’d never admit it, but right now he’d give anything to just be annoyed at his family again. Fuck, he’d take spending an entire date with Omoi (as the man had been desperately asking for) over this shit. No more sci-fi shit, he begged.</p><p> </p><p>“Speechless, huh, Streaker? I personally thought they were-”</p><p> </p><p>A strangled scream rattled up against the doors. </p><p> </p><p>“Tenten!” Hound cursed, all but leaving Sasuke behind at he slammed open the door and rushed into the night beyond. Sasuke winced with the effort to keep up, the small bits of glass lodging themselves further into the soles of his feet with every bound. He couldn’t see much beyond the small beam from the laser Hound used to guide their footfalls. </p><p> </p><p>They finally came to a parking lot with a few scattered streetlamps, following the sounds of the cries. Hound led them in a zig-zag behind the vehicles and they approached. Hound held up his hand and continued alone. </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke dropped the bag softly at his side and crouched behind a abandoned pick-up truck. A cold sweat was breaking at his nape, and he knew he wouldn’t have much longer before exhaustion fully overtook him again.</p><p> </p><p>He worked to slow his heaving chest. When he peered around the tailgate, he blanched slightly at the scene.</p><p> </p><p>Twenty or so men in the same coverall’s as his previous assailant stood smugly under the streetlight, weapons drawn. On the ground in front of them was the now-whimpering brunette, and another man crouched over applying pressure to her leg. Blood was pooling out under his fingers. </p><p> </p><p>One man in uniform group stood forward from the rest, arms crossed, “Your buddy ain’t gonna make it if you keep this up. Why don’t you tell us where you fucking rats took the supplies you stole and we’ll let you go.”</p><p> </p><p>A chuckle sounded from the group. </p><p> </p><p>“Our people need medical supplies, this building was abandoned! You pigs take <strong>everything</strong>!” cried the wounded woman.</p><p> </p><p>The leader moved swiftly, a kick sending the crouched man sprawling backwards and pressed his thick boot to her wound. “You’re the only one in need of medical attention, sweetheart,” he said. Sasuke watched in disgust as he applied his full weight. Fury seethed off her comrade, and the man fumbled to grab at his weapon. </p><p> </p><p>“Captain! We found their stash!” a uniformed woman interrupted. She held up two duffel bags, similar to the one Sasuke had been entrusted with. </p><p> </p><p>The tension in the air pulsed, and he removed his foot with a final push. Sasuke could just make out the tears streaming down the woman’s ashen face, but she refrained from crying out again. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, well. Looks like I got what I need. Let’s head out, boys. Better put your bitch out of her misery, she’s not gonna last long.” </p><p> </p><p>He watched as the patrol moved away from the group, and took his opportunity when Hound inched towards his fallen comrade. Sasuke felt for the wounded woman, but he didn’t know if they would remain allies when the smoke cleared. Sasuke needed to get some footing on whatever fucked world he had woken up into.</p><p> </p><p>Wiping his brow, he set off at a low crouch in the opposite direction and made his way back into the dark.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh gosh. I’m so sorry for this chapter, in advance. The next chapter will be much lighter! I promise! We have to get through this part of the character development for Nart.</p><p>CW: Homophobia in this scene, use of the f-slur. </p><p>This is the longest chapter I’ve written so far! I had to cut the scene off somewhere though, and have been trying to not leave things on as many cliffhangers. </p><p>Also, to reiterate, the large body of italics in this fic is for flashbacks. Let me know if those aren’t clear enough and I can mark them better/differently.</p><p>I’m literally gonna go write a fluff one-shot to balance out my feelings after writing this bit. IT GETS BETTER BUT THIS IS A DARK FIC. It is heavy. There will be sad moments, even if it doesn’t end on a sad note.</p><p>Okay! Don’t kill me! I love you all. </p><p>Let me know what you think in the comments!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <h2> Chapter 4, Naruto’s POV </h2>
</div><p>
  <span>He unrolled the last layer of black compression tape from his already sore knuckles, and roughly pocketed the bundle for reuse next time. Naruto wiped a lock of hair from its position, glued to his sweaty brow, behind his ear as he climbed from the ring. His sparring partner, a random woman who had just given him a good run for his money and left him with a score of quickly forming bruises, waved a nonchalant farewell as they parted ways.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The endorphins from his workout pumped through his body. These days it was as close as he got to feeling high, and it came with much less of a cost. The gym was where he came when he wasn’t sure what to do with himself, when he felt the urge to do something self-destructive, when he needed to work something out in his head but thinking wasn’t helping. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Today, it was a little bit of all of the above. Sakura sometimes joined him when she took the night off from the clinic, but tonight he was all on his own. Not even Gaara had been around, so he had gotten lucky in finding someone willing to spar with him. Naruto wasn’t by any means popular around here, but he had a bit of a reputation from running with Gaara’s bike crew, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jinchuuriki. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked slowly towards the men’s locker room, languidly stretching his arms as he went. There was a song blasting over the gym’s loudspeakers that had a nice beat to it, fast and hot. He didn’t know many of the artists that got played here, since they only played post-solar music, but it was always good. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto unlocked his locker with a swipe of his ID band, though it took a few swipes to register in the flickering lights of the run-down gym. Peeling off his soaked long sleeve, he was enjoying the feel of the cool air on his back. The rattling fan in the corner was faulty at best, but it was better than the stale air in the rest of the building. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a slam of lockers behind him, and it wasn’t until he had slipped on a pair of sweatpants that he bothered to acknowledge the presence in the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m in too good of a mood to flirt with you right now, boys,” he called into his own locker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, faggot. Thought me and the boys said you weren’t welcome back here.” A familiar, and wholly unwelcome, voice spoke behind him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto didn’t bother turning around, responding slowly, his voice rife with sarcasm, “Oh, but Zed, I just missed you guys so much, my girlfriend just doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>do it for me </span>
  </em>
  <span>sometimes.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A shove at his shoulder. He knew better than to fall for the bait. He steadied his breath as he zipped up his bag. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does your girlfriend know about all the guys you used to fuck?” The taunt accompanied by several low snickers from his left. The buzz of the fan grated at the tension.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Once a homo, always a homo,” another hissed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She doesn’t seem to be as curious about my sex life as you, baby. Well, at least not anymore, I could just show you the way I did with her.” Naruto shook his head and shut his locker. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another shove, harder this time. He bounced off the metal lockers and gritted his teeth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about your little faggot redhead friend? Didn’t bring him along today?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A small laugh escaped him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You mean the redhead that knocked you out cold with a single blow last time you got in the ring? Yeah, he was busy.” Naruto leaned forward to grab his water bottle from the bench but stopped cold at the next taunt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’d hate to see what would happen to your little bitch redhead if he were put on a Patrol list,” Zed spoke, his cold eyes glinting with the willingness to do exactly that. “My buddy Orochimaru is always looking for new recruits.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What was that about not falling for the bait? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Because fuck that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto whipped around without warning, swinging his bag by the strap. It wrapped around the large man’s neck and he reached up to grab the other side before Zed had a chance to react. He pulled the curly-haired </span>
  <em>
    <span>bootlicker of a man </span>
  </em>
  <span>downwards by his head, kneeing him just below the gut. The air wheezed out of the man and he stumbled forward onto the concrete in a daze as Naruto released the bag. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two on his other side hesitated at the sudden change in odds, and Naruto let out a dark laugh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Zed, baby, if you wanted to get on your knees for me you could have just asked.” He watched out of the corner of his eye as the two lackeys lunged. He kicked Zed in the stomach once more for good measure before turning into the oncoming attackers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He took a heavy hit to the cheek with a grunt, bringing his hand up to restrain the fist that hit him and pushing up on the elbow. He smirked at the wet crunch of the arm breaking. A wicked pleasure rose, it felt hot and cold at the same time, filling his limbs. It was a rage he worked diligently to suppress. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Too bad for these idiots, he wasn’t quite able to hold it back now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Using the now-wailing, shirtless man as a blockade- he pushed full-force into the remaining jock. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The slam of bodies against the cheap metal locker echoed sharply. It was only a matter of time before someone came to see what the scuffle was about. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached for the last guy's sweat-matted hair but lost his footing, careening backwards into the metal bench in the center of the room. He was suddenly at a disadvantage as the bulky man that remained stepped forward to look down at Naruto. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The jock towering above him was far from the strongest of the three, however, and Naruto barely blinked before swiping his foot at the man’s legs. He rolled out of the way as the man fell, pushing himself up off the floor. He raised his foot again, mind blank with fury, and brought it down with force on an exposed ankle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grabbed his water bottle from the bench where it had remarkably remained upright, taking a swig, and looked on at the scene. Three sniveling, howling men in various pathetic positions on the floor. Cold air wafted from the fan, and he felt the tickle of blood dripping over his lip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you three wanna get sweaty in the locker room with me, you can just ask, you know. I’ll show you a good time.” Adrenaline replaced the endorphins at a rapid speed. He was numb. He had lost control, again. It took everything in him to not double back on the men he’d clearly already beaten. Naruto shoved his way past a heaving jock on the floor and made to exit the locker room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He heard the furious shouting of the gym manager behind him as he stormed out- but didn’t stop to listen. He didn’t need to wait around to find out he was banned for real this time. He’d just find another gym.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Out in the lot, he sidled up next to the Holo-Barrier he had parked his bike in. Naruto’s body moved on auto-pilot. The whole </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking point </span>
  </em>
  <span>of getting this gym membership was to channel his rage into, how Sakura put it, “healthier outlets”. So much for that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pulled his shirt up enough so the sensor could register the RFID implant in his navel. Naruto had enlisted Sakura’s help in implanting it in his body last year after someone had broken into his garage- now the Holo-Barrier only responded to a Jinchuuriki ID. It chimed melodically in response, a sound too sweet for the emotions boiling in his gut, and the hologram shimmered for a moment before dissipating. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Kurama,” he whispered to the bike, “you feeling up for a fast ride?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glanced down at the time flashing on his ID band before starting the engine. It was only 8:45 p.m., so he still had an hour and some change before the curfew started. Good. He’d need all of it. He couldn’t go home now, not with hot fury threatening to burst from every pore on his seething body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Engine purring almost silently, he peeled out of the lot and through the dimly lit street. Hunched low over the jewel-toned orange bike, the hair that didn’t fit in his helmet whipped behind him. It was always colder these days, but the humidity stuck around and he felt droplets pool at his neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Back on the main strip, Naruto yanked on the throttle- and the grimy city blurred. Neon lights became soft slashes of color in the dark at the edges of his vision. Unable to make out individual cars and buildings and advertisements, the city smudged into one long canvas. It was freeing, emptying. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The streets were more pothole than concrete and he didn’t have the luxury of airlift like some of the newer-tech vehicles. But that was half the fun, weaving in and out at top speed. A small breath left his lips, the tense lines in his forehead relaxing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was quickly nearing the edge of the city, though, just having passed the 8th ward, and felt his short-lived bliss fizzle. An AutoPatrol on a balcony above shouted down at him in their monotonous drone. They didn’t bother with the real human kind for border watch, but that didn’t mean he could ignore them either. He had learned his lesson about that last time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do not have clearance to pass, please turn your vehicle around and return to the 8th ward,” they boomed, audio crackling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, slowing to a stop without a glance at the Patrol.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Beyond. The streetlights ended a few feet from where he stood, an abrupt chasm of pitch black. There was no fence, not even a Holo-Barrier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was no need. Who knew what was out there now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How long had it been?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stepped over his bike, letting the engine die and the heavy frame lean against him as he peered out into the unlit expanse. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do not have clearance to pass, please turn your vehicle around and return to the 8th ward.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He ignored it as his eyes unfocused, the spillage of memories swimming across his vision.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The irony wasn’t lost on him; He had spent almost the entirety of his adolescent years scrambling to get </span>
  <b>into </b>
  <span>New Konoha, shouting it at everyone who had stopped to listen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna get out of here! I’m gonna live in New Konoha where they care about kids!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna be someone!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>And now he wasn’t allowed to leave.</span> <span>It had been four years since he had last tried to get out. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To see what was left.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>After months of waiting painstakingly for an opportunity, Naruto and Kiba had finally found an ally within the Patrol ranks, something of a double-agent, who knew of a lesser-guarded route they could travel through. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Once outside the city, they had found an abandoned boat to carry them across the swamp, it had felt like a positive omen at the time- that it wasn’t rusted out and the tank was full. The engine roared to life in the otherwise quiet swamp, but Kiba had assured him that he’d gotten good word from their plant that Patrols were focused on the raiders to the western side of the outskirts- so they should be safe for a few hours. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just enough time to see if anyone had survived.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto held the flashlight as steady as he could at the front of the small motorized pontoon, illuminating the turbulent waters. Kiba was silent as he steered them towards Naruto’s childhood home. They had all lost things in the Collapse, Kiba was certainly no stranger to that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The blonde man was uncharacteristically quiet as well. He had no idea what they’d find, and even less idea how they’d get anyone back if there was anyone still at the orphanage. But he had to know. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He’d always intended to go back. He promised the other kids, the day he and Gaara ran with just a small bag each towards New Konoha, that they’d save up some money and come back for them. He thought of the cold hearted adults that had made their lives hell. He thought of the other small children that had looked on in awe as they waved a small goodbye in the night all those years ago.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>More than anyone, he thought of Iruka. His warm brown eyes, his seemingly easy smile that pulled the faded scar further across the bridge of his wide nose. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The older boy was an orphan himself, yet had done all he could for the other kids at the center despite the harsh treatment that had landed him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Iruka had been nothing short of an older brother to Naruto, to all of them really, and he had had to leave him behind. It had cut him deeply. Naruto, 16 at the time, had begged, for months as they plotted their route, but Iruka wouldn’t budge. He’d simply refused to leave until everyone could. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kiba cut the engine as soon as they could make out the small dock at the edge of the small cypress forest. Peering at the aging wood, Naruto recognized some of the faded graffiti instantly, though most of it was newer. There wasn’t much time for nostalgia and he looked away, beginning to ready himself for the landing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The air seemed to grow colder as they drifted closer.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A clasped hand on his shoulder steadied him, and with his other hand Kiba threw a skilled knot over the nearest post. His clan had also lived in this region, and he was far more adept on the water of the swamps than even Naruto had ever been.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With a soft thud, they made connection with the dock. Kiba made fast work of securing the boat while Naruto checked for the semi-automatic, secure in its holster. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He hoped they wouldn’t need it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As he remembered, the dock wasn’t too far from the central compound where the orphanage lay- at most a half-mile. He had left on a night not unlike this one, no stars but a little moonlight. Of course, back then the moon had been tethered closer to Earth’s gravitational pull. A year post-solar and it had already drifted from its orbit, just close enough to cast a faint pale blue glow over the swamp.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They walked slowly with Naruto leading the way, his head heavy with bombarding memories. Not many of them good, but all of them more vibrant than he could have imagined. It was like nothing had changed, each warped swamp tree embedded with the unheard cries of his friends, with the small triumphs of their adventures. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They passed a stray Satsuma tree and Naruto paused, taken aback that it was still standing. One of those good memories. Times he had spent fighting with, sleeping beside, climbing ahead of a fast friend he’d made one summer. Someone from outside the orphanage, he couldn’t believe he had forgotten abou-</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kiba let out a breath as hecrested the small ridge ahead and Naruto was pulled from his daze. He moved quickly to catch up and it hit him, with a force that nearly brought him to cry out, that he had thought the words too soon. </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>Everything </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>had changed. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He didn’t need daylight to see the wreckage, the moonlight provided enough heart wrenching evidence. The tall wooden fence that should have blocked his view of the small cluster of buildings had been reduced to firewood at best.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He felt Kiba’s concern radiating beside him, and he swallowed whatever emotions were fighting their way from his gut. They had already come this far, they needed to see if the raider’s had left anyone behind. If anyone had made do in the rubble. Naruto shook his head in light dismissal at Kiba before pressing forward.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The only sounds he could make out were scattered tree frogs and their own squelching boots through the mud. There weren’t any signs of life, and he let any notions he’d had of finding his little family alive die. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With each building they scanned, it became more clear that the compound had been hit by raider’s early on in the Solar Collapse. The smell of acrid wood from the fires they were known to light in their wake of destruction lingered even here in the unforgiving swamp.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nothing of value had been left behind. Doors shattered at the hinges lay where they’d fallen, a solemn tribute to those scavenged rooms they failed to protect. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto felt the humid air sink into his bones, but he didn’t pull his coat tighter around him. Let it in. He deserved to see all of this. To feel the numb spread through his nerves.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He had let this happen to the very people he had sworn to come back for. Naruto wanted to wretch, he wanted to scream, he wanted to turn back to the boat and call off the search. He didn’t let himself do any of those things. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Legs, heavy, moved without his permission away from Kiba and across the compound to where the orphans had lived, where he and Gaara had grown up. Where Iruka had said goodbye to him with a hopeful smile and a stolen bag of food from the pantry pressed into his arms. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He remembered it as it had stood all those years ago: tall, loud, cold. One large room with many beds and no privacy. They had tucked any precious items, of which Naruto had none, into the small twin-bed frame itself- each day it remained there a delight. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now, the walls held with pure luck, the foundation having been shaken by what looked to be an explosion at the far end. It felt wrong to enter anywhere except for where the door frame had stood, and he forced his eyes open as he stepped through the hollow entry. Naruto would spare himself no sight, no matter how gruesome.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Guiding himself via memory and the beam of his small flashlight, he entered. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In the office to his left, he made out a carcass picked dry by the swamp creatures, discarded under a desk. Around the neck still sat a plastic lanyard, though the paper ID tucked inside had long since molded- their identity lost to the world in death.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“A Guardian,” he spat. Good riddance.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The room opened rapidly beyond that and the sheer expanse of strewn, abandoned bed frames brought an unwilling sting to his eyes. He didn’t even bother to check the perimeter for enemies, his weapon all but forgotten at his side as he moved instinctively to where Iruka’s bed lay.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He passed several small remains as he made his way across the vast room. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He stopped for every single one. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto registered vaguely when Kiba entered the room, the man’s breathing clearly labored with emotion as it echoed through the space, but he didn’t break in his routine. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They had never had any form of identification, knowing each other by first name only. It hadn’t even mattered to him as much as it did right now. Naruto wasn’t religious, but as he crouched by each small pile of bones he prayed to whoever was listening to watch after the little soul that had occupied the body. That they may be known and cherished wherever they were now.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He didn’t dare pray for anything like forgiveness. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Finally at the place where Iruka’s bed had been, now thrown several feet away and embroidered in a soft green layer of moss and decay, Naruto fell to his knees. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span> Questions that he didn’t deserve answers to intruded on his thoughts as he looked with hollow eyes at the skeleton that had been his friend.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Did he feel pain?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Had anyone been there with him as he died?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Where does the kindest soul to ever walk this Earth go when they leave?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He watched his hand crawl stiffly through the air to lay palm-flat against the skull, picked clean by time and scavenging animals, that lay in sickening relation to the rest of the bones. Everything stilled. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Seconds and years went by. Decades, maybe. Naruto had no concept of how long he sat there on the cold floor. If his knees ached, he didn’t feel them. If he cried out, he couldn’t hear it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Perhaps that was his punishment, that he himself had already perished and been taken here by some almighty being- forever witness to the suffering he thought he could walk away from. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His thumb ran small, reverent circles across the plate where Iruka’s scar had lay in life. He’d never know how his brother had gotten it, had never been brave enough to ask, but it had apparently gone down to the bone. A thin mark on either side of the cheek bones. The soft cold kiss of knife edge was all it took to forever mark that this body had housed the most brilliant soul. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto’s body moved on its own accord and lifted the leather cord from around the skull and pulled it over his own head. His hand lingered over the small, clear crystal at the end.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do not have clearance to pass, please turn your vehicle around and return to the 8th ward.” It was the same crackled audio, louder as it neared a final warning.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto lifted his helmet enough to slip a hand inside, erasing any watery evidence of where his thoughts had taken him. With one last glance at the dark, he stepped back over the frame and rode back towards home. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was tired. It was nearly curfew.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The loud city that was his whole world now blurred around him again as he throttled back onto the main strip. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Twenty minutes later, when he pulled into his underground parking space and reset the HoloBarrier, Naruto found that his hand had unconsciously sought out the lump where Iruka’s necklace lay under his clothes. It was numb where it had gripped the crystal the whole ride home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shook his head to clear it and made his way up the creaky stairs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pulled off his helmet and scanned his ID band to unlock his front door.  He set the helmet haphazardly inside his doorway, the smell of instant noodles a silent welcome home. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hinata? I didn’t know you were back already!” He slipped off his shoes and bounded around the corner, attempting to shift away from his darker thoughts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm, yep just got back,” a cool voice called.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sidled up behind his girlfriend at the stove and wrapped his arms around her. The black-haired, small woman in front of him didn’t turn, instead adding some mushrooms to the pot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you came over here to visit me instead of going home? You’re the best.” He rested his head on top of hers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata moved her head from under his gently, and he remembered how little she appreciated the affection when she was busy. He took a step back and sat down at his small kitchen table, opting to just watch his girlfriend from afar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her job, which he didn’t understand the details of and got more confused by every time he asked (</span>
  <em>
    <span>something in ID processing for the government?</span>
  </em>
  <span>) took his pale, assertive girlfriend away for weeks at a time.  He was pleasantly surprised she was back a few days early, he hated being alone with his thoughts for very long.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turned with a bowl full of steaming liquid and approached the table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The ration boxes were short this we- Oh! Naruto, what happened?!” Her pale eyes widened in concern and she set the bowl down quickly before dropping in front of him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He quickly remembered that he had been in a literal fistfight not two hours prior, his hand seeking out his blood encrusted face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh it’s nothing, really. Just some assholes from earlier…” he trailed off sheepishly. Hinata just shook her head, tutting at him sternly while she inspected the cuts and bruising. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He let her apply some ointment to his cheek and knuckles before she left for the night, with a clear warning to Naruto to stay out of trouble. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He fell asleep soon after, curled up on his couch- having long forgotten about the food waiting for him on the table. The last of the adrenaline from the day finally eked from his exhausted body, and his hand found its way back to the cord around his neck.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh! Also, if it’s not clear this is a vague blend of a made up world and my own hometown, New Orleans. </p><p>ALSO ALSO- I finally got around to drawing up some of the character’s the way I picture them in this pic. If you prefer to make up characters looks in your own head, please feel free to continue doing so. But if you wanna know what MY chaotic brain is doing, head over to my tumblr. @ariesantagonist</p><p>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This has been un-beta'd!! Don't harpoon me for any spelling errors.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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